Your Magenta Monday Magic.
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” - James Clear
If you're reading this, chances are, you're probably experiencing a mom midlife crisis—a point in your life where you're facing numerous transitions. At midlife, there can be significant changes that disrupt your life logistically and emotionally.
Maybe you check one of the boxes below?
Your kids are about to leave the nest.
Retirement is on the horizon, either for yourself or your spouse.
You might be going through a divorce – or the loss of another significant relationship.
You’re caring for aging parents or in-laws or being faced with losing them altogether.
Whatever you're facing right now, whether it's reinventing yourself after empty nest or navigating other midlife challenges, suffice to say that this is a time that demands a willingness to adapt. If you resist the changes and challenges that come your way, well, let's just say that you'll likely find whatever life throws at you all that much harder to get through. In fact, it may just persist.
So how CAN you adapt with ease and grace? One of the best ways is by focusing on your health and wellness.
Here’s the thing, when you prioritize your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, you’re better equipped to cope with challenges. That’s because taking healthy action enhances your overall resilience!
What do I mean by focusing on your health and wellness? It’s all about:
Engaging in regular exercise.
Maintaining a balanced diet.
Developing a support system.
Practicing stress-reduction techniques like meditation and mindfulness.
We’ll cover some health and wellness how-to’s later this month in my upcoming emails, but first I want to set you up for success by talking about how to be an effective change-maker in your own life.
Change isn’t easy, but there are some simple things you can do to increase your chances of success – most importantly, changing the way you think about MOTIVATION.
Shifting our habits and patterns of behavior requires finding purpose as an empty nester, but I don't want you to make the mistake a lot of people make; they think that deciding to work on their health and wellness will magically make them feel motivated to do so.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that!
Motivation is kind of a cart before the horse situation… to feel motivated to do a new thing, you first have to do that thing. You will feel motivated AFTER you take the action, not beforehand.
If you can be the change you want to see in your world, your motivation will grow.
Working on your health and wellness doesn’t mean you have to change everything overnight and become a completely different person. On the contrary! This is about making 1-degree shifts, because small steps, taken consistently over time, are much easier to do. You are also more likely to stick with them.
What you need to get started is a little self-awareness – you need to be clear that you’re committed to making positive changes, and also some self-compassion – because you need to treat yourself with kindness and patience as you work on making changes. Change is tough, but it’s so worth it when you get to the other side!
Keep it small. Keep it consistent. Set yourself up for success.
Change is a little bit like a snowball: once you get started, you’ll gain some momentum…. You’ll feel more aware of and connected to your body, mind, and spirit, and because of that feeling of connection, you’ll want to take even better care of yourself. You’ll want to feed yourself healthy foods and you’ll want to move more. And then the more you move, the better you’ll feel – physically, spiritually, and mentally.
When it comes to our health and wellness, it’s all connected!
All you need to do to get going is commit to taking action – making small changes to move yourself towards the person you want to become. Before you know it, you’ll be on your way!
Monday Mindshift
It’s the 1° shift that makes the biggest difference over time.
As you start thinking about a healthier version of you, let’s revisit those words from James Clear: “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become”
Envisioning the person you wish to become is a really important part of becoming them.
Put your imagination to work thinking about how that person – the healthy you – would behave. What time would they get up in the morning? What habits would they stick to? When would they go to bed? How active would they be? What would they do for fun? What and how much would they eat or drink?
Having a really clear vision of who you would like to become can help you get there. When you know where you want to go, you can plan a path to get there. Write down the steps that will move you towards a healthier version of you. Put your imagination to work reverse engineering your health goals!
Be sure to keep things modest…You’re not moving heaven and earth here!
Remember, this is about making 1-degree shifts!
When you do start taking action, focus on acting ‘as if’ it’s natural, even if it feels awkward or uncomfortable – because new things feel that way for everyone until we get used to them. If you can manage to stick with it though, you’ll gradually feel things start to shift within you.
After a little bit, you’ll start to get the hang of your new behavior. As you practice it over and over, it will start to feel more natural. And that will motivate you to keep going! Remember, motivation comes from doing the thing. It’s a little backwards, but it works!
This next part is key: Write down how it feels at first, so you can go back and review your notes later on. I’ve found that when I see evidence in black and white on the page of how I’ve moved through change, it really helps to increase my resolve to do other new things as well.
I can’t wait to see how you do!
Living BRIGHTer is...
B - Be Brave
R - Cultivate Relationships
I - Live with Intention
G - Practice Gratitude
H - Prioritize Health
T - Live your Truth
What is Magenta?
The color magenta is one of universal harmony and emotional balance. It is spiritual yet practical, encouraging common sense and a balanced outlook on life. Magenta helps to create harmony and balance in every aspect of life; physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
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